Page 130 - Beltex Year Book 2024

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Having evolved a management strategy to achieve the best
prime lamb returns throughout the season from their 950-
ewe flock, the Musgrave family, Dalston, Carlisle adhere to
it from year to year.
The sheep share the 1030-acre Cardew Hall Farm with 350
commercial milkers which calve all year round, and some 300
acres of cereals, maize and fodder beet for home use. Being a
dairy farm, the sheep are always on quality grass or, when they
are inside for lambing, the same quality silage as the dairy cows.
However, key to the profitability of the sheep enterprise as far
as James Musgrave is concerned, is the use of Beltex rams and
commercial ewes with a high percentage of Beltex genetics.
James and partner, Sarah Reay farm with his brother Mark and
more recently, Mark's son with the same name. James and Sarah
also have three children, Jack, Edith and Zara with young Jack
already keen to be involved.
When the previous family partnership was split up about nine
or 10 years ago, and James remained at Cardew Hall, the current
flock was established with mainly Texel cross Beltex ewes bought
with lambs at foot.
"It has just been built up from there but with continuous use of
Beltex tups in the main, and a good proportion of the ewes will
be pretty much pure. I have used the odd cross-bred tup with
the right conformation, and also a Blue Texel occasionally and
so there a few black ewes and replacement gimmer lambs," says
Mr Musgrave.
Basically, it is a matter of spreading lambing from December
onwards to first of all catch the Easter trade, and then maintain
a steady output until November, while avoiding the normal
July/early August dip in lamb values.
While the type of lamb they are producing will, more often than
not, be grading E and U for whoever buys them, the Musgraves
are adamant that the live ring can consistently beat the
deadweight trade for these lambs and they are regular vendors
at three auction marts where, says Mr Musgrave, there are
returning buyers for their lambs.
"There have always been sheep on this farm since my
grandfather's day when he used to buy stores, but now we are
breeding our own lambs for finishing and we also breed most
of our own replacement females apart from the odd occasion
when we maybe cull the ewes a bit harder and need to buy in
some replacements.
“I tend to buy from Carlisle or Wigton. This year I went for hoggs
with lambs at foot but of a type I like and that fit in with what
we already have," he says.
The annual cycle begins in July when around 500 ewes for
December, January and early February lambing are
synchronised and it is from the earlier lambing ewes that up to
200 gimmer lambs are retained as replacements.
The bigger ones are normally lambed as hoggs having been
clipped in August to help maximise their growth potential.
Because of the system they are operating, there is no attempt
to sell prime hoggs but just a few of the gimmer lambs that do
not come up to scratch as potential replacements will go that
way.
Mr Musgrave says: "It is also only the smaller hoggs, but still of
the right type, which will be run round to shearlings before
tupping and I think there are perhaps 70 of those this time, but
it does vary.
"It is only the early lambing ewes that are synchronised and from
then on we rely on them cycling naturally. After the earlies there
is a short break before the remainder begin lambing, mainly the
shearlings and then the hoggs will follow on.
"It is important we catch the Easter trade and so the early lambs
are turned out onto good quality fogg and have access to creep
and their mothers are caked as well. It is only a very small
BELTEX RAMS ARE KEY TO PROFITABILITY
BELTEX RAMS ARE KEY TO PROFITABILITY